Keith Hudson's Musings

A crazy scheme for the City of London as a glamorous placc

It is a moment of magic when the typical urban inhabitant in an advanced country is able to see the night sky in its natural state — the seeming infinity of stars (mainly galaxies) all over and, in particular our own glorious galaxy, the Milky Way. He cannot do so because of light pollution — the illumination of the city lights into the sky above.

It is difficult to believe that some people, namely the Illuminated River Foundation (IRL), want to add to the light pollution by wanting to illuminate all the bridges of London. The IRL claims that the project will create the world’s largest “free outdoor river gallery”. How absurd !

Even crazier is that the Rothschild Foundation will pitch in with a £250,000 grant, the City of London financial firms with £500,000 and, worst of all, that the new mayor of London is pledging £500,000 of his taxpayers’ money. Meanwhile, worthwhile projects such as affordable flats for nurses and midwives who are now leading London are crying out for investment. Whichever is crazier — the support for one or the lack of support for the other — is difficult to imagine.